Storefront Door Hardware Guide for Businesses

A storefront door is one of the hardest-working doors in a commercial building. It may open hundreds of times every day, deal with Minnesota weather, provide access for employees and customers, and still be expected to lock securely every night.

At B-SAFE Lock & Key, we work on commercial storefront doors throughout Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. One thing we see regularly is that a storefront door problem isn't always just a lock problem. The lock, cylinder, latch, strike, closer, hinges or pivots, exit hardware, frame, and access-control equipment all have to work together.

A good commercial door should open easily, close properly, latch every time, and lock securely without employees having to lift, pull, push, or slam it.

Start With the Complete Storefront Door

Before replacing a lock, it's important to determine why the door isn't working correctly.

A lock can be perfectly good while the door itself is sagging. A worn pivot or hinge can cause the latch to miss the strike. A poorly adjusted closer can prevent the door from latching. An aluminum storefront door can move enough with seasonal temperature changes to create problems that weren't there a few months earlier.

These problems are especially common in Minnesota, where commercial exterior doors deal with major temperature swings, snow, ice, moisture, road salt, wind, and heavy daily use.

At B-SAFE, we look at the complete opening before recommending replacement hardware. Sometimes a relatively simple adjustment or repair makes more sense than replacing a good commercial lock.

Commercial Locks and Cylinders

Commercial buildings use many different types of locks depending on the door and its purpose.

B-SAFE services commercial hardware from manufacturers including Schlage, SARGENT, Corbin Russwin, Yale, BEST, Falcon, Adams Rite, Dormakaba, Medeco, ASSA, and many others.

Schlage commercial hardware is extremely common in offices, retail properties, apartment buildings, schools, warehouses, and other commercial facilities. Schlage manufactures commercial cylindrical locks, mortise locks, deadbolts, cylinders, and key systems, including its well-known ND Series Grade 1 cylindrical locks and L Series mortise locks.

SARGENT is another major commercial manufacturer with heavy-duty cylindrical locks, mortise locks, exit devices, deadbolts, cylinders, and key systems. Its commercial hardware is commonly designed for demanding, high-traffic applications.

Corbin Russwin hardware is also found throughout older and newer commercial buildings. Its product lines include cylindrical and mortise locks, exit devices, closers, key systems, and electronic access-control hardware.

Yale is another long-established name that we encounter in commercial buildings, along with BEST, Falcon, Dormakaba and other manufacturers.

For aluminum storefront doors, Adams Rite locks and related hardware are especially common. These narrow-stile doors often require very different hardware than a standard hollow-metal or wood commercial door.

The important thing isn't simply choosing a recognizable brand. The lock needs to match the door, traffic level, required function, existing preparation, and how the business actually uses the entrance.

Rekeying and Key Control

Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the existing commercial lock.

The problem is who may still have the keys.

Employee turnover, former managers, cleaning companies, contractors, vendors, previous tenants, and lost keys can eventually leave a business owner with no reliable way of knowing how many keys are in circulation.

In those situations, rekeying can often restore key control without replacing good commercial hardware.

B-SAFE can rekey existing commercial locks and also design master-key systems for properties where different employees need different levels of access.

For example, an owner or property manager might need access to every door while individual employees only receive keys for the areas necessary to perform their jobs.

High-Security and Restricted Key Systems

Businesses needing greater control over key duplication may want to consider restricted or high-security key systems.

Systems such as Schlage Primus, Medeco, ASSA, and other controlled key systems can provide significantly better key control than ordinary unrestricted keys.

These systems can be particularly useful for property managers, commercial buildings, offices, warehouses, medical facilities, retail locations, and businesses with frequent employee changes.

High-security hardware isn't necessary on every door. The important thing is determining where additional key control actually provides value.

Door Closers Keep Storefront Entrances Working

A commercial door closer doesn't get much attention until it stops working correctly.

Then everybody notices it.

A failing or improperly adjusted closer can cause a door to:

• Slam shut

• Close too slowly

• Stay partially open

• Fail to latch

• Become difficult to open

• Leak hydraulic fluid

• Put unnecessary stress on hinges, pivots, locks, and the frame

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B-SAFE services and replaces commercial door closers from manufacturers including LCN, Norton, Yale, SARGENT, Corbin Russwin, Dormakaba, Falcon, and other commercial hardware manufacturers.

Closer selection matters. A lightweight closer that might work fine on an interior office door may not last on a heavily used exterior storefront entrance exposed to Minnesota wind and weather.

The closer also has to be properly adjusted for the actual door. Sweep speed, latch speed, backcheck, door weight, traffic level, and environmental conditions all affect performance.

Panic Bars and Exit Devices

Commercial exit doors have another important job: people must be able to get out safely.

Depending on the building and occupancy, that may mean panic hardware or another type of approved exit device.

B-SAFE works with commercial exit hardware from manufacturers including Von Duprin, SARGENT, Corbin Russwin, Yale, Falcon, Detex, Adams Rite, and others.

Exit devices are available in several configurations, including rim devices, mortise devices, surface vertical rods, and concealed vertical rods. For example, SARGENT's commercial exit-device lines include rim, mortise, surface-vertical-rod and concealed-vertical-rod configurations.

The correct device depends on the door, frame, existing hardware, occupancy, and required operation.

This is one area where adding another lock isn't automatically an improvement. Any modification to an exit door needs to maintain safe and proper egress.

Electronic Access Control

Not every business wants to keep handing out physical keys.

Electronic access control can allow employees to enter using a card, key fob, keypad code, mobile credential, or other electronic credential.

When an employee leaves, access can often be removed without collecting a physical key or rekeying the entire building.

B-SAFE installs and services access-control hardware including HES electric strikes, Adams Rite hardware, Securitron, Alarm Lock, Trine, SDC, Command Access, and other commercial access-control products.

Electronic access can be particularly useful on employee entrances, offices, warehouses, secured storage rooms, apartment common areas, and commercial buildings where people require different levels of access.

But electronics don't fix a bad door.

An electric strike or access-control system still depends on a properly aligned door, functioning latch, solid frame, correctly adjusted closer, and compatible locking hardware.

Hinges, Pivots, Thresholds and Storefront Door Alignment

Locks usually get blamed first, but many storefront problems actually begin somewhere else.

A worn hinge, concealed pivot, continuous hinge, damaged threshold, or misaligned frame can cause the entire door to move out of position.

B-SAFE works with commercial door components from manufacturers including Hager, McKinney, Ives, Rixson, Select Hinges, Pemko, Rockwood, and other commercial hardware manufacturers.

One warning sign should never be ignored:

If you have to lift, pull, push, or slam the door to get it to lock, something is wrong.

Continuing to force the door can eventually damage the lock, cylinder, latch, strike, closer, pivot, or even the door itself.

Correcting the alignment problem first often saves hardware that otherwise would have been unnecessarily replaced.

Repair or Replace

Commercial hardware isn't cheap, and quality hardware shouldn't automatically be thrown away because something isn't working correctly.

A repair may make sense when the problem involves:

• A worn cylinder

• Damaged or misaligned strike

• Loose closer arm

• Worn hinge or pivot

• Door alignment

• Failed spring or internal component

• Improper adjustment

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Replacement may make more sense when the hardware is badly worn, obsolete, repeatedly failing, damaged beyond repair, or no longer appropriate for how the building is being used.

At B-SAFE Lock & Key, our goal is to determine what is actually causing the problem before recommending a solution. Sometimes that means replacing the hardware. Other times, repairing or adjusting quality commercial hardware is the better answer.

Commercial Storefront Door Service From B-SAFE Lock & Key

B-SAFE Lock & Key provides commercial locksmith and door hardware services for businesses, property managers, retail stores, restaurants, offices, warehouses, apartment buildings, and other commercial properties throughout the Twin Cities.

Our commercial services include lock repair and replacement, rekeying, master-key systems, high-security locks and cylinders, restricted key systems, door closers, panic and exit devices, electric strikes, electronic locks, access control, storefront door hardware, pivots, hinges, and commercial door adjustments.

Whether you're dealing with an old Yale or Corbin Russwin lock, a Schlage or SARGENT commercial lever, an Adams Rite storefront lock, a Von Duprin exit device, an LCN closer, or an HES electric strike, B-SAFE can evaluate the complete opening and determine the practical way to repair or upgrade it.

B-SAFE Lock & Key

Serving the Twin Cities since 1972

763-900-8119

service@bsafelock.com

bsafelock.com

Areas We Service

B-SAFE Lock & Key provides commercial locksmith and storefront door services throughout Minneapolis, Downtown Minneapolis, North Minneapolis, Northeast Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, Plymouth, Champlin, Anoka, Blaine, and surrounding Twin Cities communities.